New ICBM to curb ‘dangerous’ moves by US military: N Korea

SEOUL, Mar 25 (Agencies): North Korea's latest launch was a big, new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), state media reported on Friday, in a test leader Kim Jong Un said was designed to demonstrate the might of its nuclear force and deter any US military moves.

The Thursday launch was the first full ICBM test by nuclear-armed North Korea since 2017. Flight data indicated the missile flew higher and longer than any of North Korea's previous tests before crashing into the sea west of Japan. read more

Called the Hwasong-17, the ICBM would be the largest liquid-fuelled missile ever launched by any country from a road-mobile launcher, analysts say. Its range and size also suggest North Korea plans to tip it with multiple warheads that could hit several targets or with decoys to confuse defenders, according to analysts.

Kim ordered the test because of the "daily-escalating military tension in and around the Korean peninsula" and the "inevitability of the long-standing confrontation with the U.S. imperialists accompanied by the danger of a nuclear war", the KCNA state news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the United States imposed new sanctions Thursday on entities and people in Russia and North Korea after Pyongyang’s latest ICBM missile test.

The targeted persons and organizations are accused of “transferring sensitive items to North Korea’s missile program,” according to a State Department statement.

“These measures are part of our ongoing efforts to impede the DPRK’s ability to advance its missile program and they highlight the negative role Russia plays on the world stage as a proliferator to programs of concern,” the statement said, using the official acronym for North Korea.